Loose leaf binder



Dec. 27, 1938. J. ,SCHADE LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Oct. 22, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BY (IO-HIV 4S'C'H4PE 64;; Al 77% ATTORNEYS Dec. 27, 1938.- v J. SCHADE 2,141,410

LOOSE LEAF BINDER I Filed Oct. 22, 1936 4 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR (70 17 SCI/ADE Dec. 27, 1938. J. SCHADE LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Oct. '22, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 0 z a 1 Q a Q m 5 Mww m l w l l E [1% l' |l |l. 4 M 7 2 6 5 w 2 M a I. 4 4. w w x I M {MI w Q m. 0 0. Q m wk; m

Dec. 27, 1938.

J. SCHADE LOOSE LEAF BINDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 22, 1936 i J a INVENTOR BY EI/N 5131/4225 %,4 & 77m

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 27, 1938 PATENT OFFHCE LOOSE LEAF BINDER John Schade, Holyoke, Mass, assignor to National Blank Book Company, Holyoke, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 22, 1936, Serial No. 107,028 Claims. (01. 129-17) This invention relates to a combination in a loose leaf binder of improved mechanism for moving the binder prongs. It is particularly constructed to make it easy to arrange Visible 5 index bookkeeping sheets, in the binder. The invention also relates to certain detail constructions in the binder to makeit easy to handle, particularly in closing the book. Other detail constructions for various purposes in theimproved binder will be described and claimed.

According to one principal feature of the invention I provide mechanism for predetermining two particular cycles of prong moving operations. One cycle is to spread the prongs, shift the prongs on one side with respect to those on the other side, and close the prongs again in shifted position. The other cycle is identical, except the prongs are shifted in the opposite direction to the shifting step in the first cycle.

' The steps of each cycle are predetermined in the sense that the mere-operation of the mechanism,

as by repeated movementsof a handle, will cause first one cycle of operations and then the other,

all' without any need of the users attention beyond the mere act of a pull or push on the operating handle.

The-means by whichthis and other features of the-invention can be accomplished are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 7 They will be de- 0 scribed in sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to understand how to practice the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan view of an open loose leaf binder embodying my invention as it may appear when ready for normal use;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are fragmentary views of the structure of Fig. 1 showing the steps involved in the prong moving operation;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top plan View of the binder in Fig. 1 but with parts of the covers omitted and with thesheets removed;

Fig. 6 is a section on lineB-Ji of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but with the 4, binder parts indicated asopen readyforthe insertion of additional sheets;

Figs. 8-and 9 are bottom plan views of the two back members of the binder with certain parts broken away forclarity;

'50 Fig. 10is a vertical-section online l0.l|l of Fig.5; and

'Fig. 11- is an end View of the structure shown in Fig.5-but with the binder parts indicated as in closed position.

The-general character of visible index bookkeeping sheets and a binder is indicated in Fig. 1. The sheets shown are shorter than the binder. They overlap in stepped relation so as to expose on each a sufiicient margin for index purposes. These are indicated by letters A, B, etc.

Suppose the user wants to move sheets E and F up closer to sheet D. The idea is toclose the extra gap (not needed for index purposes) between these sheets and sheets A, B, C,' and D; also to provide an extra gap between sheets F and H. Then a new sheet G may be inserted and the visible index sheets will appear in uniform order from A to N inclusive. The supposed new arrangement is just a simple illustration of one rearrangement of sheets that may be desired.

To accomplish such a rearrangement, sheets A, B, C, and D are turned over from the right to the left-hand side of the binder. Then the prongs I and 2 are spread apart to a position as indicated in Fig.2. They are then shifted to a position as indicated in Fig. 3. They are then closed to a position as indicated in Fig. 4. In this position sheets E and F are turned over from the left to the right-hand side of the binder. The prongs are new again spread apart as in Fig. 3, shifted back to the position of Fig. 2, and closed again'a's in Fig. 1. The result is that sheets E and-F have been rearranged in the book as desired and without removing these sheets from the prongs. The shifting of only two sheets E and Fis mentioned in the illustration; but in the use of such binders it may be desired to shift, for example, as many as twenty sheets at a time, and this can be done without taking the sheets off the prongs. bookkeeping binder, in which, over a period of time, a great many rearrangements of sheets are made by the bookkeeper, the convenience in making them according to the above simple illustration is very great; and prior art binders have long been in use for accomplishing this general purpose of shifting the sheets on the prongs without taking the sheets offthe prongs.

In the prior art'constructions, so far as I am aware, while the prong movements were made possible, it has been necessary for the user to get the desired cycle of movements in his head and. to manipulate by hand each step of the operating cycle independently of each other step or substantially so, and the user had both to learn how and then acquire the necessary skill to carry out the steps of the cycle without bungling. These bookkeeping binders are for the most part large, heavy, cumbersome books.

To improve the binder, I have provided mech- In the full use of a visible index anism operable by simply pulling handle 3 from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 4 to auto matically perform one desired cycle of operations. 7

This cycle is to spread the prongs, as in Fig. 2, shift them, as in Fig. 3, and close them in shifted position as in Fig. 4.

handle 3, so all the operator has to do, starting from Fig. 1 condition, is turn over sheets A, B, C, D, and then pull handle 3. In the position of Fig. 4 he now turns over sheets E and F, which were shifted upwardly in the book when prongs 2 were shifted upwardly. He now pushes handle 3 back to the position of Fig. 1, resulting in an automatic operation of the mechanism to spread prongs I and'Z, shift them back to the relative positions of Fig. 2, and close themto the position of Fig. 1 when the sheets A-F appear conclear that these are the movements desired; the

automaticmechanism and the purpose of each specific element in the combination will be more easily understood. These will now be described.

In the embodiment shown, the back of'the binder (Figs. 6 and 7) is made of two'angleplates 4 and 5 hinged at 6. A spring 1 with latch pin 8 is mounted'onplate 4. When the parts are turned on hinge 6 from positions of Fig. '7 to Fig. 6, latch pin 8 passes alonga slot 59ina movable plate l2 (Fig. 7) and'snaps under shoulder 9 in a cam slot ll! of spring plate H. The latter normally lies flat against plate- I2 to which it may be riveted at: points I3. Finger piece l4 is for lifting up spring plate, to disengage pin Bfrom the shoulder 9 when one desires to open the book back completely as in Fig. '7; Plate ll will re-I turn to flat position, ready to have pin 8 snap into the cam slot in when the book is moved to position of Fig. 6.

A piano. hingeplate l5 which carries prongs l is fastened to plate 4, while its companion plate I6 is fastened to the left-hand cover I]. The

cover hinge ison pintle l8, joining plates 15 and.

i6. .Asindicated at B9, there are struck-upportrons on plate l6 which overlie theqhinge, on hinge plate I5. These portions l9 permitthe stiff cover H and plate Hi to swing outwardly, but as soonas they turn up to a position in the plane of plate E5, the parts l9 engage such plate.

the latter must turn inwardly withplate 4 on givot6 6, when the cover is turned clockwise- The cover hinge construction on the right hand side (Fig. 6)- -as 2|, 23, 24 and 22 for cover 20, is similarly arranged. The hinge plate 24 on this side-lies between a movable or slidable plate 25 (which carries the prongs 2 on the right-hand side of the book), and the outer portion of angle plate 5. The plate 25 is held as in a groove by earsZB bent into theposition shown out of the sheetmetal of binge plate 24. This construction can be seen from Fig. 5 where alternate'ears are bent out of hinge plate 24 around pintle 22 and theintermediate ears are bent as hooks 26 over the top edge of plate 25 to guide the latter as in a This is all automatically aocomplishedupon one pulling movement of' cycles have been referred to as 7 Then slot. Holes 21 in plate 25 permit angle plate 5 to be riveted to hinge plate 24 after the assembly of parts. The rivet heads are countersunk in hinge plate 24 to permit plate 25 to slide on hinge plate.

The bottom edge of plate 25 has a tongue 28 '(Fig. 5) movable in a slot 29 in plate 5. The same edge also has'a short set of rack teeth 30 extending through another slot 31 in angle plate 5.: The rack teeth 33 are in mesh with teeth 32 of a rocker arm 33 pivoted at 34 (Fig. 9) on .the

under side of plate 5. The limits of movement of plate 25 and consequently rocker-arm 33 are determined by, the motion of tongue 28 and rack teeth 30 in the slots 29 and 3! respectively. The rocker arm is operated by the engagement of pin.

35 against the walls of recess 36, which pin 35 is fast onthe under side of plate l2. The latter is slidable back and forth on plate 5 by pulling andpu shing handle 3 at the end of the plate. This plate, i2 has two spaced tongues 38 riding in spaced slots 31 (Fig. 9) with bent ends on the tongues to hold platelZfor its sliding movement on plate 5. Slots ,3! (Fig. 9) .end in rectangular openings 42 and 43 through which the tongues 3I8 are dropped in assembling the structure. The cut-out portions 43 and M" in plate A (Fig. 5) are merely for preventing interference when the rocking bar or plate 33 and pin 35 are moved into 7 completely book closed position, indicated in Fig. 11.

, Now the specific operationof the parts can be described, starting from the closed book position of Fig. 11. 'Whenthe book is laid on a desk and the covers opened its weight will carry the back parts to the position of Figs. 1, 5 andfi with back plates 4 and 5 turned slightly on the back hinge 6. The parts 6!! and GI in Fig. 6 indicate a molded and decorative false back or bottom to cover up the mechanismrassociated with back plates 4 and 5. ,The position of Figs '1, 5 and 6 is the flat, normal, writing, reading, or working position of thebooky -When handle 3 is pulled outifrom the position of Fig. 5, it slides plate l2 longitudinally of plate 5. Cam slot H! (in spring portion H on plate l2), all carried by plate '5, actson pin 8 carried by plate 4 to spread plates 4 and 5 apart, turning on hinge 6. Since prongs l and 2 are respectively supported on these plates, they are spread apart. When the pin reaches the intermediate portion of the cam slot, the spreading action stops.- As it stops, the pin 35 on. plate l2'engages recess 36 and while pin 8 is riding in said portion of the cam slot, pin 35 is turning rocking plate or bar 33 ion pivot'34, for teeth 32.to move teeth 3|] on the rackbar of plate 25. The latter carries and thus shifts all the prongs on the right-hand side of the back supported by plate 5 on which plate 25'slides. As pin 8 finishes its path in the intermediate portion of cam slot [0 (the cam slot 'has been moving here rather than pin 8) and enters the upper slanting cam slot portion, the pin 35 leaves recess 36 and sliding movement of plate 25 stops; But as it stops, cam slot ll] begins to move pin 8 to bring the back plates 4 and 5 together again to the position of Fig. 6 from which they started. The finish of this movement ocours as the pin 8 contacts the, upper or innermost end of thecam slot. This completes one cycle of operating steps in moving the prongs in one automatic predetermined series of steps. "When the handle 3 is pushed back, an identical operating cycle occurs except that the prong set on plate 25 is shifted in the reverse direction to theprong shifting (as distinguished from prong spreading and closing) step in theflrst cycle. v

1 During both cycles itwill be seen from Fig. 1 that pin 35 rides over a straight edge of rocker plate 33 without moving the latter until it engages the walls of recess or notch 36. The parts are designed preferably as shown, with tongue 28 and slot 29- and rack teeth and slot 3! locking rocker 33 against movement while either end portion'of cam slot I9 is functioning to move pin 8 transversely and to permit movement of rocker 33 only while'the intermediate portion of cam,,slot I8 is functioning t'oprevent transverse movement of pin 8. The mechanism is preferably interlocked with respect to the described sequence of operations.

When it is desired to open the book with prongs further apart than they ever are in the described predetermined cycles of operation, the user may lift up spring portion l I by finger piece l4, see Fig. 5. This frees the latch pin 8 from shoulder 9 of cam slot I ii and the parts can be moved to the position shown in Fig. 7. It will be noted that the latch pin 8 can escape along slot 59 only when the handle 3 is in the normal reading position of Fig. 5 which prevents accidental opening of the book to position of Fig. 7 while the shifting cycle is being carried out. From this position one can simply lift the covers, and by the action of tongues I9 and 23 swing plates 4 and 5 on pivot 5 for pin 8 to snap again into cam slot Ni. Furthermore, when it is desired to close the book up from reading position to the storage position of Fig. 11 this can be done by simply lifting the covers I! and 20. If it were not for tongues i9 and 23 arranged as they are in the combination, the user would beinconvenienced by having to manipulate the parts hinged at line 6, Fig. 7, to get them into position for closing the book. The covers I! and 20 hinged at 18 and 22 would not ordinarily be able to move the parts hinged at 6.

The end plate 50 in Fig. 11, together with the handle 3, helps make end cover plates for the loose leaf mechanism to give good appearance, and when the book is closed as in Fig. 11 the lower edges 51 of plates H and I2 abut plate 50 to prevent accidental movement of the handle 3. With the book on the table, one hand can take hold of flange 50 while the other hand pulls or pushes on handle 3.

The sets of prongs should be arranged to be spread out of overlapping relation with respect to the sheets on the prongs opposite to each set.

When the ends of the prongs in each set are moved out of the holes of the sheets on the opposite set, the prongs can be shifted without interference. This condition depends on the number of sheets carried and at what part of the sheet pack the book is opened for shifting. Consequently when I refer in the claims to the prongs being moved out of full overlapping relation, I

mean that they are moved far enough out of to the other.

This arrangement makes an extremely good actuating means for the automatic mechanism built into the'book. The mechanism needs no teaching or acquired skill on the .part of theoperator. All he needs to do is to turn over his sheets, push and pull on a handle. It is all so simple and convenient in operation that the improved binder gives what has long been needed in this bookkeeping field -for visible index sheet work.

I claim:

1. A binder having centrally pivoted back portions and a set of prongs supported from each back portion, one of such sets being mounted for longitudinal movement between two oiiset positions relatively to the other set, and cam mechanism operable to move relatively the pivoted back portions and one set of prongs between said a pinion on one back plate engaging said teeth,

a slidable cam plate on one back plate for operating said pinion and means connecting the other plate to said slidable cam, whereby upon sliding the cam the prong sets are moved back and forth transversely of the binder and one set is moved longitudinally of the other in sequential operation.

3. A binder composed of two back plates, each having an upstanding flange at the outside edge and a depending flange at the inner edge, a hinge connecting the lower edges of the depending flanges, a set of prongs supported from each upstanding flange, a slidable plate carrying one of said sets, a device the position of which determines the relative position of the back plates on their hinge, and mechanism operable to move said device and said slidable plate in sequential operation whereby the relative position of the prongs in the binder is changed for sheet manipulating purposes.

4. In a binder construction for visible index sheets, two sets of oppositely disposed prongs, relatively movable prong supports mounted in the binder to permit one set of prongs to be moved to and from two overlapped positions as well as to and from two offset positions relatively to the other set of prongs for sheet binding and index shifting purposes in the binder, constraining means cooperating with one of the prong sup-' ports to require the change in said overlapped positions to take place transversely of the binder while no change is taking place in said offset positions and the change in the offset positions to take place while no change is taking place in the overlapped positions, and an actuator operable in one direction to push or in an opposite direction to pull the prong support for coaction against said constraining means, for a sequential operation of first changing relative overlapped positions, then offset positions, and then overlapped positions of the prong sets according to the aforesaid requirement of saidrconstraining means.

' 5. In a binder construction for visible index sheets, two sets of oppositely disposed prongs, relatively movable prong supports mounted in the binder to permit oneset of prongs to be moved to and from two overlapped positions as well as to and from two offset positions relatively to the other set of prongs for sheet binding and index shifting purposes in the" binder, constraining means cooperating with one of the prong supports to require the change in said overlappedpositions to take place transversely of the binder far enough to open the prongs for the ends thereof to be free of index sheets while 7 no change is taking place in said offset positions 

